HE HANGED THEM HIGH An authentic account of the fanatical judge who hanged eighty-eight men

Hardback. The most extraordinary judge the United States had ever known, at the time, was Isaac C. Parker; and the most extraordinary court America had ever seen was the United States District Court for Western Arkansas, located in Fort Smith. One reason the court was unusual was that it covered more ground than any other; its territory was as large as Missouri and Connecticut combined, extending from the Arkansas River on the east to the Colorado line on the west. One man held the power of life and death over the people of this vast section. For 16yrs the Supreme Court of the United States could not intervene. When Parker's rule came to an end, his jurisdiction was broken up into no less than 72 separate courts. When Judge Parker said (in effect) to a prisoner, "You die," the man died and that was all there was to it. Nothing like it in America has ever been known. Also (and this was the most important fact of all), it was the court where the most desperate, the most dangerous, the most bloodthirsty outlaws ever gathered together were tried. These men took themselves to the Indian Territory for the simple reason that it had no state law, since the land belonged to the Indians, who had their own courts and their own way of dealing with malefactors, but could not pass on a white man. So the criminals went to this 'Happy Hunting Ground'. The only court that could try them was the one at Fort Smith, and it had become so corrupt that any man with a pocketbook could buy his way out. The people of the Territory got so outraged at the way their court was acting that they threatened to impeach the judge, a man named Story. He acted fast and resigned. Then, with the reputation of the court at its very lowest ebb, young Isaac Parker was sent out by President Grant to see what he could do about it. He did plenty. Features amongst others : Belle Starr, the Rufus Buck Gang, Annie Maledon, Cherokee Bill, Texas Jack and Croy, Ned Christie + much more. Illus. With Sources and Index. 278pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. V. lightly browned edges, with tiny puncture mk. in middle of sp. o/w Vg+.